efdcapt115

Well that wouldn't be you with your 20 posts in two years. Thanks for the positive reinforcement towards the effort the rest of us who don't write IA's but try and contribute something helpful for the board and the membership. We certainly do appreciate your positive feedback! And I agree, we have some great IA writers. But to criticize guys, lump everyone in as a bunch of gum flappers? What's up with that?

I thought the movement has been toward yellow lights on the rear of rigs for some time now. What's all the blue hoopla about anyway?

Fair enough Borat! lol But Izz, my point was I'm thinking the reason the fire service gravitated over to aluminum ladders was for the a) lack of maintenance compared to wooden ones and b. because a minimally staffed department (like mine) you could have a truck man throw a 24 foot ground ladder if need be by himself; maneuver it around to a backyard, get it up against the building, raise it, and still have some energy to do some work. Or two guys could do the same with a 35. I'm not saying it couldn't be done with wooden ladders. I'm saying departments were happy to go for lightweight aluminum for the reasons I stated. When you have two man trucks like we did, this is just the reality. Our spare truck used to have wooden ladders, and we had to linseed oil them, until one guy threw the rags in the trash bin in Station 4's kitchen and lit the firehouse on fire. End of wooden ladders. I've noticed in videos that other California departments (I think L.A.) still use the wood. Maybe I was way off on my calculations of the weight of a 25/24 foot wooden ground ladder, but please don't put me in the category of "can't do." That wasn't my point.............now maybe you want to say hello to my wiffeee....thumbs up!

Well, would it also mean a 25 footer would way 150 pounds?

One reason I can think of off the top of my head is; you need MANPOWER to carry a heavier ladder. The video from VES said a 50 footer weighted 300+ lbs. How many of our departments have the necessary mp to carry that.....

Finally some good new for the Brothers. Thanks Truck 4 for the info!

Thanks turk, that's a great video. Really enjoyed it.

You guys got a CHROME FITTING on the front bumper????!!!! OMG!!!! What a waste of money!!!! (Just an inside joke for our fan club from DC).

That's a good one Chief. I always get a kick out of "at this time." As in "what time would you rather use, Greenwich Mean Time."? LOL

that was the only fun part of doing cpr..........

Always out of damn rep points when I need 'em the most. nice posts today INIT, Chris, all you guys. This is a crappy situation. nobody wants to see a dead college kid; but when they make BAD DECISIONS like this one did....well look at the results of his actions. I feel so bad for the Brothers involved in this. I can just imagine what it's going to be like with a grand jury, the media coverage, the modified duty, etc. It SUCKS.

10-4, 10-8, 10-20, 10-30.....the only ones I ever used. Everything else was spoken English.

It's because the media needs to sensationalize these events. That how they make the $$$, sell the newspapers, and get people to watch their dumb @ss news broadcasts. They'll get Rev Al and all the rest of them to pipe in on this, but they'll all revision this incident, and conveniently forget the guy had a cop on the hood of his car, and hit a couple of others in his stupid state of mind to flee for some reason. He must have been high or drunk to not comply with the officer's simple request.

I don't care if you're the President of a University, a football player, a nuclear physicist, or a nun; you use your vehicle as a weapon and try to run down a police officer, a firefighters, or an emt, you should be stopped by any means necessary, including deadly force before you kill somebody. Too bad this football player didn't understand that driving with a cop on the hood of your car is reason enough to be stopped with deadly force.

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/usa/new-york-city-cathedral-st-john-the-divine Address: 1047 Amsterdam Ave, New York City, New York

I was just checking in on blowhud about that: http://www.lohud.com/article/20101017/NEWS01/10170421/Police-shot-and-killed-driver-during-Thornwood-melee

"Say uh....ya think you can add another thousand gallons to the tank capacity?"

Was in contact with a Chief from a rural volunteer fire district in New England in dire need of firefighting equipment. If your department has recently received a FIRE ACT grant or upgraded equipment for other reasons, and you have anything that might be usable please e-mail me with details (you can e-mail me through the contact info in my profile). I can liaise with the Chief and maybe coordinate something to donate and help them out. Thank you, George

Along with the "Facebook Sucks" list, I'd like to add Cablevision, Fox and throw in Comcast while we're at it.

http://www.whitefieldfirerescue.com/

No disasters or anything like that. The Chief is a retired Deputy out of a large city in Maine, and now looking to improve this department, which has been operating without enough basic gear for a very long time. They recently won a FIRE ACT grant to help purchase a pumper. The town has committed to rebuilding their station. I asked what the basic gear situation was like, and he said they don't have enough; from airpacks to extinguishers. I offered to ask here and see if we could possibly drum something up. All offers will be relayed to the department, and if taken up, we'll figure out logistics after that.

You have to unlock that to get to the hosebed.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23888454-london-firefighters-announce-strike-dates.do

Good point. Accountability of the commanding officers then to ensure they aren't working the members beyond acceptable, reasonable levels?

That's why they have racks in the VACs. Use them!